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sci-fi recommendation?

MortFurd said:
Asimov, yes. I'm hard pressed to think of anything I didn't like that he wrote. If you can find it, get a copy of the "I, Robot" collection. All robot stories (obvously.) My favorite from that collection is Al-76 goes Astray.
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IIRC, all of the stories from I, Robot (plus some) are contained in the newer collection, The Complete Robot.
 
MortFurd said:
If you can find an anthology with "A Boy and his Dog" in it, I'd suggest you read it. Just be prepared for one hell of a twist. I don't know how well the film with Don Johnson actually captured the story - I've never seen it.
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Possibly the worst sci fi movie ever, considering how great the novella is. They had to pad it, so inserted an incredibly bad and totally out of synch sub-plot of a utopian community living underground.... Truly horrible. I have to go look up Ellison and see what he has to say about what he did to his story. He's not known for being quiet. I'm sure he didn't have any control over the movie, but I may be wrong.
 
Foolmewunz said:
Possibly the worst sci fi movie ever, considering how great the novella is. They had to pad it, so inserted an incredibly bad and totally out of synch sub-plot of a utopian community living underground.... Truly horrible. I have to go look up Ellison and see what he has to say about what he did to his story. He's not known for being quiet. I'm sure he didn't have any control over the movie, but I may be wrong.
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The underground community was mentioned in the novella, but wasn't developed. The girl had to come from soemwhere. :)

I always wondered about that movie. I saw it advertised on TV something like ten years after I read the novella, but I didn't get to see it.
 
If you remember the book with as much fondness as you apparently do (citing it twenty-something years after first reading it), then you'd absolutely detest the movie.
I did look a little bit into Ellison's reaction, but since he shows up in so many places, I haven't been able to nail down any comments. The director, LQ Jones, says Harlan loved it. Apocryphal comments that I'm trying to track down, though, say he later recanted. Can't be sure. Ellison's a cynic and he might've said anything to sell the thing to the movie going public.

What I did find out that I wasn't aware of, is that A Boy and His Dog was the direct inspiration for Mad Max. That's interesting enough.

Apologies to other posters.... this wasn't meant to be a movie board. Ignore the above. Go buy a copy of A Boy and His Dog, though. And death unto anyone who gives away the ending.:(
 
Must push for Philip K. Dick!

I recommend Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
The Man In The High Castle
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
and (of course)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
as well as all the other books he has written :D
 
If any one here on a skeptics site wants to read Sci-FI there are three authors you must start with:
Robert A Heilein---"if it can't be proven mathmaticaly, it ain't true."
Isaac Asimov----low elevation astro physics can be fun
Carl Sagan,,,yes, Carl Sagan::"Contact":: with billions of stars it could be true.
 
Foolmewunz said:
Stranger in a Strange Land.... Let's wait 'til you finish.
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So I finished it, and I'm still not sure what is so infuriatingly "woo" about it. Was it Smith's religion, or the implication that divination can be real (despite astrology being bunk)?
Please elaborate.
 
Good sci Fi read

The culture series by Ian M Banks are a great read, recommended.

His non sci-fi novels are pretty good as well
 
Julian May: Intervention, Milieu and Exiles cycle

Anne McCaffrey: Pegasus and Tower cycles, Dragonriders of Pern sequence

David Weber: Honor Harrington series.
 
Gargoyle said:
Must push for Philip K. Dick!

I recommend Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
The Man In The High Castle
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
and (of course)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
as well as all the other books he has written :D
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Especially Martian Time-Slip
 
Morrigan said:
I just started Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. So far, so good, I would recommend it.

The Otherland series by Tad Williams is excellent sort-of cyberpunk (City of Golden Shadow is the first volume). Highly recommended.

Avoid anything by Orson Scott Card. Anyone who recommends Ender's Game to you needs to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. And not necessarily in that order.
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Stranger in a Strange land was a strange book, but I liked it. I had the unabridged version. The one bummer is the Heinlen tends to take social commentary, put it in quote, and alledge it to be dialog. But that's okay. It's just his style. Still a good book. It makes some excellent points about the nature of conjuring.

Ender's Game is cool. Sue me. :)
 
Morrigan said:
Completely agreed. Everyone needs to read Dune, the whole series. God-Emperor is the dullest one, but it's worth going through it for the last two which are excellent and quite underrated.
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Quick note about Dune series: I know at least one person whose favorite is each of the original 6. My favorite was Children, followed by God Emperor, I think. Blert's (occasional poster here) favorite is Heretics. Trena's favorite was Messiah. They all seem to appeal in slightly different ways.

Lesson: read all 6 before deciding. :)
 
What is the difference between the abridged and unabridged version of Stranger in a Strange Land?

My favourite Dune is probably the first one, but the last two are possibly just as good.
 
Morrigan said:
What is the difference between the abridged and unabridged version of Stranger in a Strange Land?
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Essentially, the publisher thought it was too long to sell, so Heinlein pruned it down to a more "acceptable" length. His widow later found the original version among his papers, and when she renewed the copyright on his works, the ooportunity to issue the original version was taken.
 
Well, I sort of *figured* the unabridged version would be longer... what I'm interested in is what the extra content is about. :P
 
How about Battlefield Earth? Not that bad as pulp sci-fi goes, and thick enough to kill several hours. Still, I'm embarassed to ever have put money in those particular coffers (I didn't know at the time).
 
I would recommend:

The Foundation Series - by Issac Asimov. In my opinion, the best sci-fi series ever.

The Rama Series - by Arthur C. Clarke

The first two Dune books - by Frank Herbert
 
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